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Speakin’ ‘Strayan…

Distinctly Australian Words and Phrases:

arvo – afternoon

bewdy – also ‘beauty’, usually as in ‘a bewdy of a day’ in reference to fine weather or ‘she’s a bewdy’ in reference to a car or item of purchase.

bickie – any variety of sweet biscuit, usually served with a cup of tea

bloke – fellow, man. Particularly used in reference to older Australian men.

bloody – informal and sometimes taboo but ocker term for ‘very’

broke – used in reference to a personal situation of poor or low finances

BYO – Bring Your Own (can be seen as ‘BYOG’ Bring Your Own Grog or alcohol)

CBD – Central Business District, usually only in reference to cities not towns

chips – potato fries or dry packaged potato crisps

chock-a-block – full

chook – chicken

cockies – cockroaches; country residents especially farmers; also slang for a person from a southern state to where you are (for eg, someone in Queensland may refer to NSW residents as ‘cockies’, while NSW residents could be referring to Victorians)